Marking machines of various types have been provided for marking indicia on a multiplicity of objects, all of which have essentially the same size and shape. In the pharmaceutical industry, it is important to imprint the manufacturer's trademark, trade name, or control number and the like on the articles as a means toward preventing the sale and use of counterfeit drugs. Further, it is important that the article be distinctly and finely marked so as to indicate, to the druggist and end user alike, the source and type of medication contained therein.
In industry, it is also important that such mechanisms be capable of processing the capsules on the order of thousands per hour and more. The prior U.S. Pat. to E. M. Ackley, No. 3,871,295 discloses a capsule orienting apparatus and method of spin printing wherein the capsules are randomly arranged in a hopper, transferred to a continuously rotatable transport cylinder where they are rectified, and then transferred to a conveyor to advance the capsules through a spin printing station.
Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,272,118 (C. E. Ackley) and 2,931,292 (C. E. Ackley) disclose other mechanisms including conveyor means adapted to present the desired articles to varied printing stations. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,118, the capsules may be spin or "wrap-around" printed. U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,292 discloses a mechanism that is adapted to print along opposed lateral sides of a pellet or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,280,328, (Weltmer) discloses a mechanism including a conveyor in conjunction with a printing station adapted to print on the endwise portion of articles advancing along the conveyor. This patent, however, is related to processing and printing upon bread loaves and is not related to capsule printing at all.
However, heretofore to the best of our knowledge, there has been no capsule processing mechanism that can rectify the capsules, print about the circumference thereof (spin or wrap-around print) and print on an endwise portion of the capsule--a highly desirable and advantageous feature.
Such an operation faces problems because of the nature of the capsule itself--its lightness, tendency toward development of static electric charges and its fragility.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for processing capsules that spin or wrap-around prints the capsules as well as print along an endwise portion of the capsules.
It is a further object to provide a machine capable of rectifying the capsules prior to wrap-around and on-end printing.
It is a specific object to provide a machine that includes coacting elements combining the aforementioned three functions, and is capable of processing the capsules at a relatively high production rate notwithstanding the fragile nature of the capsules, their lightness and their tendency to develop static electric charges.
Further, it is an object to provide an on-end and wrap-around printer that finely imprints the desired indicia on the capsules with little or no smearing of the same as the capsule is further processed on the mechanism.
Other objects and advantages of this invention, including the simplicity and economy of the same will readily become apparent hereinafter and in the drawings, which show specific forms of apparatus incorporating features of the invention. The drawings and their accompanying descriptions in the specification are not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.